“The non-granting of permission for the realization of the established Liturgy at the historic Holy Monastery of Panagia Soumela on the fifteenth of August constitutes an extremely negative and disappointing decision on the part of the Turkish authorities. It raises reasonable questions as to the real reasons why the holy symbol of universal Orthodoxy and Pontic Hellenism, which for centuries has adorned the area of ​​Trebizond, remains closed and silent on the day of its great feast. This type of behavior is oxymoronic with the expressed desire of a country that claims to want to become a full member of the EU, a family of states where respect for religious freedoms and religious monuments is considered a self-evident fundamental obligation.”

The above was emphasized by the general secretary of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (DSO), Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos, when asked to comment on the announcement of the Ecumenical Patriarchate according to which the refusal of the Turkish authorities to allow the Liturgy at I.M. Panagia Sumela on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin.

In his statement, Maximos Charakopoulos also points out that “the imposing Byzantine monastery, which is rightly a candidate to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, precisely because of its monumental value and the spiritual glory it carries over its long history, cannot be the subject of arbitrary management by the Turkish authorities. On the contrary, it must be open to all visitors and pilgrims, especially on the days it celebrates.

As the ILO, as we always do for all Christian monuments that are in danger or their use is being altered, we will continue to monitor the issue, at the same time informing the inter-parliamentary institutions with which we cooperate about what is happening.

Even at the last moment, Turkey should realize that it has nothing to fear from celebrating the Liturgy at Panagia Sumela and stop putting obstacles in the way of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Unfortunately, its refusal to allow believers from different countries to come to minister in the historic Pontos monastery confirms the huge distance that separates it from the European acquis.